Musician’s Spotlight: Bahja Rodriguez

Bahja Rodriguez was born on August 2, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia to Shamra Rodriguez and John-John Rasboro. Inspired by Britney Spears to sing and influenced by artists such as Aaliyah, Brandy, and Billie Holiday, Bahja began to work on her craft at a very young age. She entered the music industry at the age of 12, when she joined the popular girl group the OMG Girlz. The group managed by Tameka “Tiny” Cottle is most known for their hit songs ‘Gucci This, Gucci That, ‘Where The Boys At,’ and ‘Boy It’s Over.’ Though the group performed on various major tours and had much success, they disbanded in March 2015 before they could produce a debut album.

Not letting the group’s disbandment end her career, Bahja released her first track as a solo artist, ‘Jealous Type’, in April 2015. To date, the song has gained over one million SoundCloud plays. Shortly after, she released two more songs on her sound cloud which have received more than 300,000 plays. In late 2015, Bahja dropped her first project as a solo artist. The EP, on which she would describe her music as having a “really cool, feel-good R&B-ish type of vibe”, titled “It Gets Better” shows her depth as a new recording artist.

Following the success of her debut EP, Bahja is said to be gearing up for an upcoming tour. According to Bahja, “My musical goal is to always produce great sounding quality music and win a lot of Grammy Awards.” She aspires to one day write for other artists and offers this advice to any young woman looking to get started in the music industry: learn as much about the business as you possibly can; never be afraid to ask questions, don’t stop asking until you understand; and make sure you have a team in place that believes in your dream as much as you do.